What’s the deal with years of required industry experience?

Nearly every equity research analyst position I can find puts in their description that they want/require applicants to have X years of experience in equity research or related fields. I’ve seen the numbers range from 1-3 to 3-5 to even 5-10. What gives? I mean I understand it of course, but how am I supposed to get into the field if nearly every job wants experience in the field. Is this just a perfect world qualification that usually doesn’t detour you from being a candidate?